Enclosures such as sheds, huts and the like have been provided in which the front wall, back wall and opposed side walls are all raised and lowered simultaneously. These structures have been utilized to dry bricks, house animals or in other applications wherein it is desirable to provide complete ventilation to the interior of the enclosure and/or to provide access to the interior from any location around the perimeter of the enclosure. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 337,180 to McCoy; 1,500,266 to Primm, Sr. and 3,844,063 to Jackson.
Enclosures of the type disclosed in the patents mentioned above comprise a roof structure supported at its four corners by posts extending to ground level, and front, back and opposed side walls all hinged to the roof. A cable and pulley system is provided to pivot each wall about its hinged connection to the roof so that the walls can be raised to expose the interior of the enclosure or lowered to completely close the interior. The pulley system is constructed so that operation of a hand or motorized crank acts upon cables connected to each of the walls so that they are raised or lowered simultaneously.
The structures disclosed in the patents to McCoy, Primm, Sr. and Jackson, while advantageous in some respects, also have disadvantages. Movement of the walls between the lowered and raised positions requires the walls to pivot about their hinged connection to the roof and swing upwardly or downwardly. This arrangement requires a substantial amount of room to allow the walls to swing unobstructed as they are being raised or lowered, and space considerations in some applications may not permit such a construction.
Additionally, once the walls are moved to the raised position, all of the weight of the walls are carried by the cables and hinges. This places a substantial load on the hinges which are subject to failure if they become oxidized and weakened by the weather. In the event of a failure of either of the hinge or cable, the walls present a substantial hazard if they should fall from their raised position near the roof and strike an individual or object beneath.